On the Razor's Edge
by allamericankat
Summary: A mere mis-calculation results in disaster. T-Bone blames himself for Razor's death. One hero will give his life to save another. MY FIRST SK fanfiction. (A bit of OC x Chance and Callie x Jake)
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: ****_SWAT Kats: The Radical Squadron belongs to Hanna-Barbera. (However Baylee belongs to me)._**

**WARNING, get out your ice cream and tissues.**

I just...couldn't save you. I wasn't there, but I should have been. I was just ignorant. You needed me and I let you down. Why...why did I have to-

Chance clenched his eyes shut against the hot tears that escaped regardless and flooded down his cheeks, dampening his blonde fur.

_Jake! Why didn't I just listen to you?!_ He took his anger out on the wall with a furious fist. Spider-webs of cracks spread through the plaster of the wall where he had struck it.

"This is all my fault." It was all too cliche to say such a thing, but it burned deep down. Those hateful words told him lies; lies that said it was true, that he had been the sole cause. They wouldn't go away. A gentle touch on his bent shoulder caused him to lurch in surprise. His wandering tear-stained eyes turned to find a red-locked she kat standing behind him. Her green eyes were weary, but behind their exhaustion was concern.

"Chance, you've been up all night." She informed him. Chance let a shaky sigh free and hung his head in remittance. He hadn't bothered to look at the clock.

"I'm fine Baylee." He mumbled, instantly realizing that wasn't true.

Baylee knew it as well, "You're not. Chance, you're hurting yourself. Jake wouldn't want this. I'm sorry to be the one to say this, but...nothing can bring him back." Chance turned a glare on her. It was dark, foreboding, fueled by sleep-deprovation.

"Save it! You have _no_ idea what this is _doing_ to me!"

Baylee gripped her right arm with her left hand and sighed, "I miss him too, but-"

"-I don't just 'miss' him Baylee! You didn't know him like I did! He was more than just some friend, more than just a partner. He was...just..." _Crud, I'm choking up in front of a girl! _

"He was like a brother I never had." He let the tears come hard. Baylee could think what she wanted. Maybe she'd never see him the same way afterwards. He didn't care.

"I just want my brother back." He whispered. Baylee kept silent for a moment. Words were her enemy. She had never lost a friend, nor a sibling. He was right.

"Maybe I _don't_ know what it's like, but Chance...I'm gonna be here with you. I'm gonna help you. I promise."

Chance couldn't meet her eyes. Every thought that entered his mind only reminded him of Jake. The bellicose emotions were waging war inside him. It was too much. He shook his head.

"You don't have to do anything Baylee." His voice shook. He trudged past her and pushed through the door. She would follow him for sure. As he stormed down the hall he could feel her eyes on him. He retreated into the garage where he stopped and scanned the empty room with wet brown eyes. Everything was just the way it had been when they had dropped their work and leapt into action the day before. The now-silent power drill lay soundless and still on the concrete floor. Stray tools lay everywhere. Chance slumped in defeated remittance into the corner. He'd never see Jake again. He blamed himself. It had only been 22 hours since the incident that took his life, but it felt like a million years. It was just a short enough time ago, that Chance could still hear his partner's voice loud and clear like a broken record in his mind.

'_It'll be okay big buddy. I'll be fine. I promise_.' Chance had nearly forgotten how long ago it had been since he'd curled up in a corner and cried so hard. The last time had been when he was a kitten, scared of the first day of school. Now he had a real reason, he took it. _'I promise' _Those whispering words repeated over and over. '_I'll be fine'. _

**Short first chapter, but I'm just getting warmed up. Who wants Razor to still be alive? Let me know. I'm not giving anything away. I may or may not. This could end in a pool of tears or it could end with a happy reunion.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter two is here! Sorry if I kept you waiting for so long. No excuses. Here it is! For those of you who requested better paragraph structure -which, by the way, I appologize for that- I have attempted to do a better job with this chapter and will work to edit the previous chapter to make ****_that_**** one readable as well.**

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own SWAT Kats: The Radical Squadron. All characters belong to Hanna-Barbera. (Except for Baylee, who belongs to me).**

**I'll shut up now and let you read...**

_Another day..._Was the first thought that popped into his mind as he awoke.

Chance groaned and forced his eyes open. The scent of bacon wafting in from the kitchen was intense. He sat up, rubbing his eyes with a wide yawn. The out of the ordinary peace of the morning reality came like a spectre. Jake was still gone. With a faint groan Chance massaged his forehead and sat up, the blankets slipping to the floor. He was still in his work clothes from the day before. He recalled getting up at about...three in the morning, wasn't it? He'd dragged himself into the room and collapsed on the sofa.

"You're awake." Baylee announced the obvious as she walked in.

"Sort of..." Chance muttered. He closed his eyes against the bright sunlight. Baylee took a seat beside him on the sofa, putting an arm across his shoulders.

"It'll be okay, Chance." Baylee tried to reassure him. They both knew full well that it wasn't true. Chance's mind was still swimming with thoughts and flashes of memories from that day. The two swat kats hadn't the faintest idea that something like this could have ever happened. Chance's tired memories attacked him like a reoccurring nightmare. The smell of flames still stung his nose. The adrenaline hadn't yet settled in his viens...

_The two of them raced down the empty hall of the penthouse, panting heavily from running._

_"Almost there, buddy! We've got 'em!" T-Bone shouted, firing a mini-megaton from his glove-a-trix that destroyed the door barring their path. There was no time to waste. They charged through the boiling flames of the explosion and pressed onward. Just when it seemed as though nothing could stand in their way, they turned a right-hand corner and found themselves facing a blank wall._

_"Crud! It's a dead end!" T-Bone exclaimed, muttering something harsh under his breath. The sound of clanking metal erupted rom behind them. Razor and T-Bone turned to find the Metalikats standing in between them and their way to freedom._

_Molly let out a cold laugh, "No way out, SWAT kats."_

_"How did they get behind us?!" Razor raised his glove-a-trix and took aim at Molly. The robot only looked at him with cruel pleasure._

_"What'cha gonna do, SWAT kat? Tie us up wit' your grapling hook?!" Mac jeered, raising his metallic claws. Razor threw a glance at T-Bone._

_"Buddy," He whispered, "When I fire, it'll deflect off the floor and blow an exit in the ceiling right above us. That's your cue to split. Got it?"_

_"Razor, I-I can't just leave y-"_

_"-You have to promise you'll do it, buddy! It's the only way!" Razor shouted._

_"Times up!" Mac announced with a dark laugh, firing a missile from the weapon on his arm. A feirce explosion shook the structure. Debris flew everywhere as T-Bone lost his footing and was flung to the floor. The smoke was thick. It felt as though the ceiling was going to collapse. T-Bone forced himself to his feet, searching frantically for his smaller partner._

_"Razor!? Razor! Buddy, where are you?! Razor!" T-Bone's voice rang out over the roar of the destruction all around him._

_"Crud! This place is comin' apart!" T-Bone exclaimed, choking on the dust, "Razor!" He wheezed, stumbling forward. The smoke burned his eyes. Then he spotted a flash of red and blue amid the smoke._

_"Razor!" T-Bone charged through the falling debris and flames. He dropped to his knees beside the limp kat lying motionless in a pile on the floor. Razor's flight suit was torn and shredded from the explosion. The smaller kat was covered in blood._

_"Buddy..."_

_Several larger explosions went off. The Metalikats had detonated the bombs they had planted. It wouldn't be long before the building was in rubble. The building shook harshly. Concrete sections the size of grown kats rained from overhead. T-Bone effortlessly lifted his little buddy off the floor, carrying him like a kitten._

_"Hang in there buddy. I'm getting you outta here." T-Bone promised. He charged through the ever-increasing flames, dodging raining debris. The building shook like an earthquake, making it hard to run._

_T-Bone forced himself to move faster, already out of breath. The smoke was everywhere; in his eyes, in his nose, burning in his lungs. His throat felt tight. He pressed himself to run harder. Razor's life was on the line._

_He pushed himself onward down the halls until finally the smoke overpowered him. He stumbled and fell, staggering, choking on smoke, to the floor. If only he had bothered with the oxygen masks that morning when they left. He hadn't thought they would have needed them. Dizzy with the lack of oxygen he managed to crawl forward a few feet and punch the panel of the outside air vent. If he could crawl out through it, Razor with him, they could make it._

_The thin metal panel burst open. He slid Razor through first and dragged himself in after him. Then suddenly a massive eruption exploded behind him, flinging him like a rejected ragdoll through the brick wall and out into the empty air. All of a sudden he found himself in a deadly free-fall._

_Despite the circumstances, all he could think about was Razor. Where was he? With a lurch something like a rope coiled around his waist and stopped his fall short. He looked up and found Slash on the roof of a nearby building, her fist firmly grasping the thick black rope of the grapling hook._

_"Gotcha!" Slash called, "You alright mate?!"_

_T-Bone couldn't respond for a few seconds. When he did his voice sounded hoarse._

_"Did you see Razor?!" He called back as Slash helped to pull him up onto the roof alongside her. His heart sank. Slash was shaking her head._

_"No, sorry T-Bone." She replied soberly._

_T-Bone turned to watch as the building crumbled. Then he crumbled himself._

_"How could I let this happen?!"_

_A hand came to rest on his shoulder, Slash tried to reassure him, "It's not your fault, mate."_

_T-Bone brushed her hand away. He didn't want to talk to anyone. Nothing they could say would change anything. Razor, -his little buddy- was lost in flames. He couldn't believe it. He just couldn't make himself understand, nor did he _want _to believe it was true. "I'm so sorry buddy..."_

Chance realized he'd said it outloud. It was amazing how flashbacks came on so suddenly, like a bad dream; but these weren't nightmares. This was real. It had happened nearly two days ago. Baylee was still beside him, as willing to help as she had been when she was Slash, and Chance still as unwilling to accept help as he had been when he was T-Bone. It was like daja-vu.

The thought of 'daja-vu' only made Chance miss Jake even more. It was too much. He rose to his feet and left the room with a muttering word to Baylee.

"I'm gonna go out for a while. Don't follow me."

Baylee gave a single nod. The concerned look on her face burned in Chance's mind as he changed into his flight suit and donned his mask and helmet. He knew she cared. He just didn't need 'care' right at the moment. He didn't know what he needed.

As he swung himself onto the cyclotron and revved out of the underground hangar via the tunnel he realized what he was looking for. What he needed was confirmation, and he intended to find it. He wouldn't rest knowing there was a chance of hope for his little buddy. If there was a possiblilty...he needed to know.

The cyclotron growled as it rocketted from the tunnel's exit. It roared away from the salvage yard, it's destination set for the penthouse.

**How did I do? Let me know. More chapters are on the way!**


	3. Chapter 3

**I'm back!  
Enjoy chapter three.**

The cyclotron's steady roar purred smootly to a stop as T-Bone halted it and got off in front of the ruined remains of the penthouse. The crippled, smashed building looked skeletal against the bright morning sky. T-Bone was almost wary of looking through the rubble for fear of what he might see. There was nothing but dust lying spread across the pavement. Giant chunks of concrete, glass, metal beams, and plaster lay in heaps. The whole wreck was surrounded by yellow security tape. T-Bone was about to duck under it to investigate the scene further when he heard a female voice call him.

Raising upright started to say, "I thought I told you not to follow me!"

A confused expression scrolled across Callie's face. It was the Deputy Mayor.

"Oh, it's you Miss Briggs." T-Bone stated. Callie approached him casually.

"What are you doing here, T-Bone?" Callie asked with a wave of her blonde hair.

"Looking for answers...-you?" T-Bone replied.

"Well without the selling of the penthouse to fuss over, the Mayor's turned to fussing over how he's going to rebuild it. He's been putting me to work all morning. I just now got a break, and thought I would walk by the building on my way back." Callie explained. She adjusted her gasses.

"You said you were looking for answers." She went on after a moment of silence. "Answers for what? If you don't mind my asking."

T-Bone couldn't reply for a few seconds. Then he muttered in a low voice, "Razor's missing. We...were almost out when the building blew to peices. I don't know if he..."

His voice trailed off. He knew Baylee was the kind of she-kat who would understand him. He wasn't sure if Callie would understand why a tough vigilante hero was breaking down in public. He choked it down and sighed, "-If he might be...y'know, gone."

Callie nodded, "Well..." She brushed her bangs out of her eyes, "I hope he's okay."

T-Bone could tell it was a shock to her. He had a feeling the deputy mayor had a thing for Razor.

"He'll be okay, Miss Briggs." T-Bone tried to reassure her.

Callie nodded once more, "I know...he'll be fine. Nothing could hurt Razor." Her lower lip shuddered. She shook her head, suddenly throwing herself limply against T-Bone and crying.

"Oh T-Bone! I can't live without him!" She sobbed heavily. T-Bone returned the awkward embrace with a massive hand on her tiny shoulder.

"I hear ya' Miss Briggs." He replied. He lifted her chin so that she was gazing up at him, sure she could feel his own heart flutter as her sea-green eyes stared up at him.

"I'll get him back, Callie. I have to." He reassured her. Once more Callie nodded, but it seemed forced, as did the shaky smile on her lips. She stepped back, smoothing her dress and re-gaining her composure.

"You take care of yourself, Miss Briggs." T-Bone told her. As Callie walked on her way up the street T-Bone thought, _It'd probably drive me up a wall, Callie, but I'd let Jake marry you if it meant he'd live. _A tear slipped through his mask, which he quickly swiped away.

"I'll find ya' buddy. Hang on." T-Bone vaulted over the security tape. Ever so carefully he attempted to move the large pieces of rubble that lay in heaps all around. Some things were almost too heavy to move, but he wasn't about to let that stop him.

Several hours seemed to pass. The sun was full in sky now, but still nothing had been found. Exhausted, T-Bone slumped down onto a large slab of concrete, mopping the sweat from his masked forehead. Taking off his helmet an hour ago didn't seem to change things. The black mask absorbed the sun's merciless heat like a magnet. He sighed, eyes fixed on the ground.

"This is crazy..." He panted. He pushed himself to his feet and scooped up his helmet from the dusty sun-scorched ground. The cyclotron roared to life as he climbed on, weary and tired. Defeated he sped away from the scene headed for home.

Baylee was waiting for him in the hangar when he drove up. T-Bone staggered off of the cyclotron, chucking his helmet perfectly into the locker. He peeled the mask off and it too joined the helmet in the locker.

"So...?" Baylee asked, her hands in her pockets. She didn't take her eyes off of him for a second, watching for his expressions as an early answer. Chance was too tired to bother with facial expressions. He shook his head.

"Nohing." He replied crossly.

"Not a hint, not a clue." He turned his back on Baylee as he unzipped his flightsuit. "Nothing."

"So, he could still be alive." Baylee stated with an optimistic flavor in her voice. Yet somewhere in her tone there was almost an interogatory question mark.

Chance looked over his shoulder, though not directly at Baylee, "...I just don't know. -Do you mind?"

Baylee seemed confused, "What?"

Then it dawned on her, "Oh! Right, sorry mate!" She wheeled around on her heel, hands clasped behind her back in embarassment. An awkward silence followed, momentarily disrupted by the ruffling of clothing and the faint buzz of a zipper. The locker door clanked shut and Baylee turned around.

"I turned that dang place upside-down." Chance muttered, now in mechanic attire. He moved stiffly towards the stairs.

As he started to scale the ladder he added, "All it got me was a near-tangle with heat stroke and an aching back." Baylee climbed up the ladder behind him, moving aside to avoid his tail as it swiped across her nose once or twice. They crawled out of the secret manhole in the garage floor and Chance closed it shut behind Baylee.

"Get a shower and knock off for the day Chance. It'll do you good." Baylee told him. Chance nodded and followed her prescription. Baylee always knew how to fix him up after a hard day.

**Not the ****_best_**** way to end a chapter, I admit., but it's seemed to suit me well enough.  
Hope to have a new chapter up as soon as possible. **


	4. Chapter 4

**I guess for this scene I had been brain-storming late at night. I must have been half-asleep when I had this idea and I suppose I liked it too much to resist.**

**Let me just say, I enjoyed this short little chapter immensely. **

Baylee was sitting on the sofa watching the tv blankly when Chance walked in. She looked up with a smile and scooted over to give him room beside her. He collapsed onto the sofa, gritting his teeth painfully.

"Your back still hurt, mate?" Baylee asked, her rusty red-brown colored hair falling around her shoulders as she let down her ponytail. Chance nodded with a wince.

Baylee sat up straight, sweeping her hair behind her shoulder. Then she said something that took Chance way off gaurd.

"Take your shirt off."

Chance looked at her, right brow arched. "Why?"

"I'm gonna fix that back of yours. Don't argue, it won't do any good." Baylee instructed insistantly. Chance gave a cross sigh and pulled off the red shirt, setting it aside. Baylee told him to lie down flat on his front on the sofa and got up to let him do so. Chance was muttering the whole time.

"'Can't believe I'm doin' this..." He said loud enough for Baylee to hear. Baylee simply shook her head at him.

"I'll have you know I'm very experienced at this, Chance Furlong. You just relax and let me do my job." She told him. Gently her finger-tips glided over his shoulders, loosening the tense muscles like only a trained doctor could. Her trained hands moved proficiently over the brown stripes on his back soothingly.

"I used to do this for my patients when they had spent hours on a hard day's work in the force." Baylee explained, not stopping from her rythmic massaging. Chance realized he was purring. He quickly stopped himself.

"So...this isn't awkward for you?" He asked over his shoulder.

"Not at all." Baylee replied. However, in spite of all of her experience, she was blushing. Chance was unknowingly purring again. This time he didn't notice.

"I ran into Callie today." Chance stated, grimacing a little as Baylee rubbed an especially sore muscle.

"Literally or metaphorically?" Baylee asked, causing Chance to laugh a little.

"Metaphorically." He replied, "She was um...she took it hard, -about Razor."

"Yeah," Baylee agreed soberly, "I knew she would. 'Guess she would have found out anyway."

Silence flooded into the room like an unwanted fog. Chance rested his head on his folded arms and shut his eyes, still purring like a kitten, but he wasn't thinking about Baylee, nor the silence anymore. There was noise all around him. The sound of roaring flames, thundering explosions and vibration of the shock waves as they threw him out of control to the floor. Then the horrible self-generated image of Razor slipping from his grasp.

All of a sudden he cringed, eyes opening imediatley to escape the living nightmare. Baylee's hand was grasping his shoulder. The words 'Are you okay, mate?!' echoed in his head. He realized he'd momentarily drifted off.

"You fell asleep for about ten minutes. I wasn't going to bother you, but you got to breathing really hard and I got worried." Baylee explained.

Chance sat up, a hand rubbing his forehead. "Baylee...this is just a nightmare..." His voice sounded hollow. A frown distorted Baylee's lip. She sat down beside him, saying nothing, only watching him. Chance was gazing blankly at the floor. Then an arm wrapped around him gently. He looked up at Baylee and brown eyes met green eyes.

"Hey," Baylee whispered, "We'll get through this. We're swat kats, aren't we?"

Chance's gaze returned to the floor, "We...were. I don't know if I am anymore." Baylee was too astounded for words. Chance sounded like he was giving up. She couldn't allow that. If only words weren't her enemy right now!

The cold breeze whipped the tattered mask behind him as he climbed the fire escape to the roof of the building. He looked out over the city to see where he was. He was a mile from home and exhausted. Stopping to catch his breath he sat down on the edge of the roof, careful of the nasty burn on his left leg. The cold are felt good on the exposed wound. He sighed, looking across the dark city at the green-blue hued horizon.

"Poor T-Bone, he probably thinks I bought it..." He muttered breathlessly, lifting his bruised wrist to examine his watch. (Somehow it hadn't been totally destroyed when he had been thrown). 10:03, it read. His body felt like a punching bag as he rose to his feet stifly and limped off in the direction of the salvage yard mumbling to himself, "At this pace it could take all night..."

**Dun, dun, dun! *Or whatever expression you use to imply dramatic music*. I think everybody knows who 'he' is. The question is, what's gonna go down before 'he' gets back?**


	5. Chapter 5

**I have nothing to say here so...**

"Blast this incripted system!" Hard Drive exclaimed, bashing the top of the computer monitor with his fist.

"There is nothing I can't hack! You hear me?! Nothing!" He shouted, the surge coat he wore bursting to life with jolts of electricity. The computer was persistant and the words on the screen still read 'Request Denied'.

"Oohh...!" Hard Drive growled, clenching his fists tightly so that his knuckles grew white.

"Deny this you transistorized tormentor!" With a solid kick to the screen the computer died and the monitor went blank.

"Tough night for a computer-hacking, don't you think?" Slash asked, propping herself against a file cabinet with an arm, the other arm on her hip.

"You!?" Hard Drive gasped, turning around. "Who the heck are you?!"

Slash laughed, "Funny. You think you'd recognise a swat kat when you saw one, but I suppose the static electricity could have fogged your perception, so I'll jog your memory." With a flick of her wrist she threw a blade-a-rang across the room. The blade-a-rang caught the light of the surge coat and, turning in a horizontal arch sliced cleanly through the USB cable of the coat.

Hard Drive screamed as electricity spurted from the frayed wires. "You will pay for that, swat kat!" he shouted.

Standing in the open window Slash replied, "Fair dinkum. Come and get me!" She dropped out of the window. Falling through the empty night air she fired a grapling hook and swung herself up onto an opposite building. Hard Drive followed through the wires, leaping onto the roof as well. He blasted a bolt of lightning at Slash.

Swiftly, Slash tumbled beneath it and fired a blade-a-rang at the surge coat's main power concole. Hard Drive saw it coming this time and moved out of the way.

"Ha! You missed swat kat!" He grabbed Slash firmly by the throat and lifted her off her feet, chuckling, "I prefer my vigilantes fried!" Electricity buzzed up his arm towards her, creeping like crackling ivy. Hard Drive laughed, "Any last words?"

"You might...wanna duck." Slash choked in as cocky a tone of voice as she could.

"Huh?" Hard Drive looked over his shoulder just in time to see the blade-a-rang hurdling towards him from out of the night sky. Slash took advantage of that split second and kicked him hard in the ribs. As Hard Drive sprawled to the ground Slash caught the blade-a-rang in her hand.

"Silly drongo, don't you know boomerangs come back?" She asked, twirling it around her hand once or twice before slapping it to her belt.

"You won't defeat me!" Hard Drive retorted, scrambling to his feet.

"Oh yeah? How so?" Slash asked, propping her hand on her hip defiantly.

"I have allies..." Hard Drive jeered coldly. Behind her, Slash felt someone creeping up on her. Before she could dodge it a slimy, scaly tail wrapped around her tightly, covering her mouth so she couldn't scream.

Hard Drive laughed cruelly, standing upright and approaching her. "About time you got here, Viper."

"You try travelling acrosssss Megakat Csssity by ssssewer!" Viper hissed.

Slash managed to wriggled her head free of Viper's tail to shout, "Let go of me you slimy dill! Get off!"

Viper only sneered, "You did well in trapping thissss one Hard Drive. She will do well asss my experimental text ssssubject."

"In your dreams, Viper!" Slash snapped. _Crikey! Where _are_ you T-Bone?!_

"Why keep the menace around? I say drop this low-life and deal with the real swat kats!" Hard Drive stated, gesturing to the edge of the building.

Viper thought about that for a moment, then smirked.

"Hisss! Prepare to meet your doom swat kat!" He rasped, holding her out over the edge by his tail. Slash struggled, but in vain. She couldn't break free. Hard Drive's evil laugh flooded her ears, as did Viper's icy hiss.

"Hey!" A voice shouted. "Is that any way to treat a lady?!"

Slash lifted her head in shock. That voice...It couldn't be! As a figure stepped out of the shadows Slash couldn't believe her eyes.

"Razor!" Slash exclaimed.

"It'ssss another ssswat kat!" Viper hissed, pointing a jagged green finger.

"Get him!" Hard Drive shouted, launching a blast of electricity from his fists. Razor leaped out of the line of fire, tumbling upright and launching a net from his glove-o-trix at Hard Drive. The net wrapped around the villain and pinned him firmly to the erecting pole of a bill board. Viper hissed harshly.

"Musssst I do everything myssself?!" Viper exclaimed, releasing Slash with a harsh flick of his tail. He lunged at Razor.

Falling to her doom below Slash frantically raised her grapling gun. The heart-sinking sound of 'click' rather than 'ca-chunk' followed.

"Crikey! It's stuck!" She shouted. Suddenly someone swooped down from overhead and grabbed her.

"You okay Slash?" Razor asked, swinging both of them upwards towards another rooftop.

"Yeah." Slash gasped as they landed safely on the roof. "Thanks Razor, I thought I'd nearly carked it that time."

"Whatever that means, you're welcome." Razor replied, smiling shyly. Slash returned the smile, punching him in the shoulder.

"Good to have you back, mate." She told him.

Razor nodded, "Good to be back." Then something seemed to dawn on him.

"Where's T-Bone?" He asked.

"Back at home. He took losing you pretty hard, mate." Slash replied.

"Well let's get back to the hangar and let him know I'm still alive." Razor declared. "Whew!...you wouldn't happen to have the cyclotron with you, would you?"

Slash pressed a button on a small pocket-sized remote and the cyclotron sped into view, screeching to a halt below. Repelling down the side of the building, Razor and Slash reached the ground and climbed onto the cyclotron. Slash revved the growling cycle and they rocketted down the dark street.

"No...no...no..." Chance muttered as he examined two or three items in the fridge.

He pulled out a plastic container of something that closely resembled cheese and growled, "No..." Stuffing it back into the fridge. He slammed the fridge door shut, the contents in the door shelf rattling. He had already drank all of the milk. It was just his habit to raid the fridge more than thrice when he was upset. Slash was out there all alone, fighting. Chance sighed. All the fight had left him hours ago.

What was the use? He left the kitchen, blonde tail dragging. The tv was still on when he entered the garage waiting room and plunked onto the sofa. Then something on the television screen caught his numb attention and snapped him back to earth.

"What the-...?" He turned the volume up. Dark Kat was on the screen.

"Citizens of Megakat City, I don't have much to say. All that I do have to say is 'Be very afraid'. Your precious swat kats will not save you, and neither will the enforcers, because I have taken over the Enforcer Headquarters." The camera zoomed out to reveal the headquarters behind Dark Kat. Feral, Felina, and the sargeant were all tied and gagged beside him.

"You can come for me swat kats, but know this, you will fail!" Dark Kat shouted. The reception was cut and the screen turned to static.

"Don't these villains ever sleep?!" Chance muttered. He got up, pacing.

"First the Metalikats, then Hard Drive, now this!" He ranted, his voice rising with frustration. He slumped back onto the sofa, burying his face in his hands.

"Things were so much easier when we had Jake..." Came the muffled whimper. The growl of the cyclotron below grasped his attention. Chance leaped up from the sofa and hurried down the ladder to the hangar. If there were any reason for Slash to have come back, it would be that something was wrong.

However when he turned to see the cyclotron drive into the hangar it was apparent that things were far from wrong. He blinked a few times in disbelief as Razor climbed off of the cyclotron, limping, but he was alive.

"Razor!" Chance exclaimed, swinging over the railing of the platform at the bottom of the ladder and scooping up the smaller kat like a teddy bear. Razor found himself spun around once or twice, nearly crushed in a tight -not at all manly- hug.

"Buddy...'can't...breathe...crushing...me!" He managed to gasp.

"Crud! Sorry buddy." Chance let him go. Silence ensued. Neither of them knew what came next. Chance finally broke the silence.

"I thought you'd bought it buddy..."

Jake shook his head, bumping his tear-choked friend in the arm lightly with a fist. He smiled, "Well I'm back in the saddle now, -and it looks like I'm just in time too."

"Hard Drive's teamed up with Viper. I don't know where they're going, or what they're doing, or why. All I know is that those two couldn't possibly be working together unless Dark Kat had something to do with it." Baylee informed Chance, taking off her mask and helmet.

"You're right." Chance replied, "He just made the news." Razor started for the Turbokat.

"Well what are you waiting for? Come on! We've gotta stop them!" He called.

"Hold on there Razor." Chance told him, grabbing him by the back of the flight suit. "You've been through a lot. You need some R&R."

Baylee snapped her fingers, "Aces, I can have you patched up in no time, mate!"

Razor's shoulders sagged, "Fine."

"Buddy, I'm not try'n to keep you laid up in bed or anything. I just can't let something happen to you again." Chance told him.

"I know." Razor replied, removing his helmet. "Take care of yourself out there, buddy."

Chance gave him a nod and amiably slapped a hand to Razor's back. Razor waited until Chance had walked some distance away to get changed into his flight gear before he whimpered, "Ooww..."

Chance was many things, but 'gentle' wasn't one of them.

So far so good. Razor is alive, he's home, everybody's happy, Dark Kat's about to take over the city...Something is bound to go wrong.

**I try to upload a new chapter every day if I am able. Sometimes circumstances prevent me from doing so, but if this should happen I will try to make up for it. Thanks for your reviews! They keep me going.**


	6. Chapter 6

"I'll come and help you as soon as I'm done here." Baylee told Chance as he suited up.

"Alright," Chance replied, slipping his mask over his eyes. Baylee started to walk away when Chance called her back.

In a low voice he said, "No matter what happens, keep going. I need your word on it." He told her, his brown eyes glinting in the overhead light of the hangar.

"What if you buy it, Chance? I don't think I-" Baylee was cut off by the look in Chance's eye.

"That's why we're here. It's why we're swat kats. We keep these kats safe from freaks like Dark Kat, -no matter what the cost."

"Hey," he called her attention so that she looked up at him expectantly.

"Thanks for everything, beautiful." He told her. Donning his helmet he leaped into the Turbokat. The elevator beneath the Turbokat lowered beneath the floor. The deafening thunder of the jets filled the hangar. They grew louder, then faded as the Turbokat bolted out of the tunnel. Silence followed, leaving Baylee blushing and confused.

"Crud..." Jake muttered, now in civilian mechanic clothes. "I don't know how I'm gonna survive being cooped up in here while Dark Kat plots to take over the city."

"Ah, no worries, mate." Baylee reassured him.  
"The point of this is that you survive. C'mon I'll make you some tucker." She led him to the ladder.

There was tension in the air as the Turbokat weaved and dodged in between buildings and towers of the city. The Enforcer HQ was only about a half a mile away. T-Bone wasn't too sure he trusted his own aim, still he switched to the auxillary weapons panel and crossed his fingers in hopes that he wouldn't miss if he had to use it. From behind the corner of a building the daunting Enforcer Headquarters came into view.

"Alright Dark Crud, I'm here...where's your 'welcome wagon'...?" T-Bone muttered, even though he knew no one could hear him. His hands gripped the joystick anxiously. Below on the enforcer's landing strip was a flash of red light. As it rocketted closer and closer T-Bone didn't need a computer to tell him it was a missile.

"Crud!" He made a quick motion to the right. The missle whirled past like an express train. That one misslie had only been a warm up. All of a sudden the sky was dotted red with fast-approaching missiles. The Turbokat dodged these one after the other, sometimes more than one. T-Bone made it look easy, but it truly wasn't. With a roar of the jets the Turbokat darted towards the Enforcer Headquarters.

"Gotta take out those guns!" T-Bone coached himself, lining up his sights with the first missile-launcher on the runway.

"Guide my hand, sure-shot..." He knew he had said it before, but it never hurt to say it again. He selected the slicer-missiles, took aim at the first three ground targets, and fired. Three slicer-missles launched from the bombay. Two suceeded in destroying the missile-launchers on the ground. The third missed, nearly taking out an expensive-looking, dormant enforcer jet sitting on the runway. More missiles came at him. T-Bone did he best to avade the thick waves of attacks. Panic electrocuted through him as a missile struck the right wing. The Turbokat choked and plunged out of the sky.

"Crud! She won't respond!" T-Bone cursed, struggling in vain to control the Turbokat. The ground below grew closer and closer.

"Can't...bail. Gotta...bring her back...!" It was no use. The Turbokat went into a downward spiral, a trail of smoke looping behind it. A static signal crackled to life over the intercom in his helmet.

"T-Bone! You've gotta bail! Get out of there, now!" It was Slash.

"She's come around before, Slash! She can do it again!" T-Bone shouted back. He silently pleaded with the jet.

"Come on baby...come on...!"

"Eject, you drongo before you get yourself killed!" Slash shouted over the line. The ground was getting nearer and nearer. T-Bone gave in and pressed the eject button. The canopy slid back and the pilot seat of the Turbokat was launched several feet into the air. T-Bone couldn't tear himself away as he watched the crippled black and red jet plummet to the ground. With a heart-heavy sigh he contacted Slash.

"Where are you?" he asked. To his left his noticed another wave of missiles moving his way. "I'm below you on the cyclotron, headed for the enforcer HQ." Slash responded.

"Rodger. I'm gonna try to take him from above." T-Bone replied, moving sharply upward to avoid the wave of missiles, zig-zagging around them as they came broiling past.

"That's a negative, mate!" Slash shouted, "There's no way!" T-Bone lined up his sights with the third missile-launcher on the Enforcer runway and let one of his own missles fly. This time it met it's mark.

"It's the _only_ way, Slash. The front entrance is blocked." T-Bone replied.

"I see what you mean..." Slash stated, sliding the cyclotron to a halt. Kats completely clothed in black so that they looked like shadows krept towards her on all sides. Slash pressed the intercom button on her helmet.

"You do what you can to get in, T-Bone. Just don't get yourself killed." She told him, "I'll handle Dark Kat's cronies down here."

"Rodger that." T-Bone replied, "Take care of yourself kitten."

"Will do." Slash responded, sending a flying kick to one of the first shadow-like figures, sending him sprawling. Above in the air T-Bone fought to keep out of the line of fire as missiles were launched left and right. Once more he took aim at the fourth missile launcher and fired, moving out of the way and having a near-miss with a passing missile. His own missile was mis-guided because of this. The flaming projectile careened into the runway, embossing a smoking black pit there. T-Bone came within close distance of the landing strip. A missile fired close at hand towards him. Thinking fast he unbuckled from the seat and leaped off, grabbing the edge of the landing strip with a desperate hand. The missile hit the seat, blowing it to bits. T-Bone ducked as flaming shards flew past him. He pulled himself up onto the edge, standing across from the glaring Dark Kat.

"End of the line, Dark crud! Now turn over Enforcer Headquarters before I get really worked up!" He shouted.

Dark Kat laughed, "I find your proposition adorable." He jeered, "But you don't have me yet. Nothing can stop me!"

T-Bone scoffed, "Cliche."

Dark Kat snarled, "Where's your back-up, swat kat?" came the sneer.

"Right here you bloke!" Slash exclaimed, lunging off over the edge of the landing strip and drawing back her grapling line in the same motion. She sailed clean over T-Bone's head and plunged into Dark Kat head on. The large ebony kat stumbled backwards, but was hardly fased. His fists clenched around Slash's slender wrists.

"How pathetic." Dark Kat mused, followed by another cold-hearted laugh. He clenched his fists tighter. Slash cringed as the flow of blood to her hands ceased. Her arms felt as though the bones would crumble like old chalk sticks. Something hit Dark Kat full on like an express train.

Slash was flung backwards, unfortunatley striking her head on the hard concrete. She lay there for a few seconds, her face against the hard surface. The pain throbbed in her temples, it ached in the sockets of her clenched eyes. I should get up...I need to get up... Her arms felt like noodles, not to mention they hurt like all insanity. I think I'll just lie here for a moment...She decided with a groan of pain. She cracked an eye open, a splitting pain shocking from her forehead. Her vision was blurred, but she could see T-Bone laying one after the other to Dark Kat. In spite of her crummy vision she could clearly tell that T-Bone's face was red with anger.

Finally Dark Kat managed to get his bearings in the midst of the fist fight and struck a blow with a massive fist to T-Bone's right shoulder. With a gasp, breathless with pain, T-Bone crumbled. Dark Kat took the oppurtunity to grab him firmly about the neck and haul him to the edge of the landing strip.

"This is your end." Dark Kat laughed scornfully.

"Cancel that appointment, Dark Kat!" Razor's voice rang out.

"What the-?" Dark Kat made the mistake of looking around. Razor plunged his fist into Dark Kat's face. Dark Kat stumbled, nearly falling from the edge. He righted his footing. T-Bone managed to wrench himself free amid all of this. The two SWAT kats stumbled back from the edge, glaring fire at Dark Kat, who stood over them.

"What's the matter Dark Crud?" Razor taunted, trying to keep a cool head.

"Yeah, you look scared to death." T-Bone added his bit.

"If anyone should be scared it's you, swat kats! You've been a menace to me too many times, and now I will end you, with the very justice machine you protect!" Dark Kat bellowed. "Get them!"

From behind them, Dark Kat's shadow minions charged at them in waves. T-Bone and Razor exchanged glances, ending in a nod that said 'Let's do this'. Slash picked herself up off the concrete shakily, raising her fists.

"Come at me..." She wheezed. The shadows were upon them all of a sudden like a massive tsunami of fists, feet, and claws. After that it was all chaos; strike one in the face, break the next one's neck, watch that you didn't hit one of your own. Amid all of this, Dark Kat slunk like a snake towards the enforcer-emblemed blaster lying on the ground.

"Time to end you, swat kat!" Dark Kat lined up his sights with T-Bone. T-Bone managed to see it coming in time to move. As he lunged aside it missed his chest, but went straight for his arm, scorching the blonde fur the blast contacted, embedding the bullet through his skin. A hand clutched his arm as the crimson-scarlet gushed beneath it, flowing in rivers through the fur of his arm. He stumbled, regained his balance, and swung with his good arm at an approaching attacker. Another shadow-minion charged behind him. He turned around on his heel and slammed his whole arm against the shadow-minion's concealed face. The shadow-minions were too many, however. They were like ants, clawing, kicking, biting. Blows flew like stinging raindrops.

Once or twice Slash recalled stumbling, a few times someone trod on her toe, much to her irritation. The frustration made her all the more aggressive. Dark Kat wasn't finished. Once more he lined up his sights, this time at Slash, pulling the trigger with more force than was necessary. Slash threw herself beneath the legs of a shadow-minion, tumbling under fire. The bullet hit the minion instead. The minion buckled and fell as Slash leaped away.

Razor, now fighting alongside her, was a force to be reckoned with. Injuries couldn't slow him down. Blow after blow, not one was a miss. With the agility only a kat his size could attain, he swept through the waves of shadow-minions, attacking left and right.

Dark Kat took aim once more, but the sound that responded was 'click' instead of 'bang'. With a scoff of disgust he bashed the weapon against the ground. The three swat kats advanced on him, a sea of unconcious or dead shadow-minions lying behind them. Their claws gleamed. It was time to end this. Dark Kat, on the other hand, wasn't about to be handed over to the very orginization that he'd overrrun. He turned tail, bolting for the doors of the enforcer complex as fast as he could go. Slash did a double-take as T-Bone swore harshly.

"He's getting away!" Razor called, breaking the awkward look from Slash's face. They charged into the building, running as hard as they could, just barely keeping Dark Kat's purple-shaded tail in sight.

"T-Bone!" Razor exclaimed, "He's heading for the main weaponry!"

"Probably gonna stock up so he can finish us off." Slash muttered.

"Not if I have anything to say about it!" T-Bone retorted, blowing the doors around with his shoulder so that they slammed against the walls with a loud bang.

"End of the line, Dark crud!" T-Bone shouted, aiming his glove-a-trix at the dark figure cowering in the shadows. The figure stepped into the light, grinning implishly.

"Come and get me, swat kats." Dark Kat jeered, raising a highly-perfected enforcer weapon in his clenched fist. He laughed menacingly as the gun fired like a volcanic explosion.

**This is probably the most action I've written for this story so far. Temper, temper. T-Bone's mad now.**


	7. Chapter 7

"Move!" Slash shouted. That was all the two others heard. The three jumped clear of the blast just in the nick of time. T-Bone and Razor found cover behind some titanium-reiforced holding boxes. Slash couldn't find that same luxury on her side of the room. Dark Kat had gone trigger-happy. Slash was moving to stay alive.

"We've gotta help her!" T-Bone exclaimed, nearly throwing himself after her from behind the boxes. Razor managed to grab the back of his bandana in time.

"T-Bone! I'll go after her! Stay here, and for pete's sake, keep your head down!" He told him, springing nimbly over the boxes and launching a net at Dark Kat from behind. The large kat was thrown to the wall and pinned there. Razor came alongside Slash, keeping his glove-o-trix pointed at Dark Kat.

Before Razor could react Dark Kat broke free from the wall and net all in one swift motion. He took a desperate aim at Razor and the gun fired. T-Bone saw it launch from the gaping black mouth of the gun. It progressed towards Razor, but it wasn't there yet, and wouldn't get to him, not if he had anything to say about it. T-Bone threw himself headlong over the boxes, taking leave of danger all together.

_I nearly lost you once buddy. _He thought, charging forward and leaping across the space between Razor and cretain doom. _And it's not gonna happen again!_ His shoulder slammed into Razor, knocking his partner out of danger. With the force of an express train the blast hit him full on in the chest. Like an electric pulse the shockwaves rocketted through him. He nearly blacked-out, his vision blinking red. With a breath-taking thud he slammed against the floor, his eyes tightly shut, fangs clenched as blood seeped between them.

Dark Kat turned about and bolted for the doorway, firing twice in vain before charging into the hall. The doors slammed shut. Razor's eyes were wide behind his mask. Horror was striken on his face.

"T-Bone!" He shouted, dropping to his knees beside his partner. Blood, blood,...all he could see was the blood. Tears muddled his vision, spilling down his face.

"Talk to me buddy! Please!" He sobbed, holding him in the bend of his arm. The reply came in a faint whisper.

"...Razor, take...take care of Baylee..." T-Bone told him, body heaving for breath. Razor blinked tears out of his eyes, trembling.

"Buddy, don't say that! You're gonna live! You have to!...please!" He cried, his voice hoarse from holding back tears. His heart clenched as T-Bone's breathing weakened.

"Razor...I lost you once...I couldn't...lose you again...promise me...you'll..." T-Bone's voice trailed off. Razor put a hand around T-Bone's shoulder, the other holding him up.

"Promise you what, buddy?" Razor asked him, their was anxiety in his voice. T-Bone didn't respond for two heart-pounding seconds. Then in the still quiet of the room Razor heard T-Bone say something in the firmest, clear voice he could still muster.

"Take out...Dark Kat..." The words rushed over Razor like the roar of a tsunami. Then came an even bigger blow of reality, as his best friend went limp against him. Razor's eyes were wide in shock.

"T-Bone...? T-Bone! No, no, no! Come on buddy, don't do this! Chance!" He pleaded, nearly passing out with shock. Slash knelt down beside him, resting her ear gently against T-Bone's still chest. When she rose up again her comonly colorful face was drawn and pale. For once the aussie couldn't speak. She just shook her head. That was more than Razor could take. He set the limp body of his partner gently down and rose up, fists clenched. He faced the doorway as if the doors would blow open if he glared hard enough. He sucked in a deep breath of anger and stormed out of the room, grabbing a shoulder-fired missile launcher on his way out without even looking away from the doorway. There was no voilence in the way he pushed the door open, nor the dead '_wop-wop_' sound as the swinging door closed again.

It almost made him seem all the more daunting. Nothing mattered to him now except doing exactly what he had been told. '_Take out Dark Kat'_.

**Very short chapter! My apologies! **

**So...here's what I **_**didn't**_** tell all of you, one character **_**would**_** bite the dust before the story was over, and lo and behold it happened. This was so hard! I think deep down I might have twisted something backwards while trying to write this. Still...okay, now I'm babbling. **

**Don't give up on me yet.**

**Oh, and uh...*ahem*...no flames. I burn back.**


	8. Chapter 8

Slash felt like all of her courage died with him. She was Baylee once more; a shy, loud-mouthed aussie, tripping over her own two feet. She didn't care who she was to anyone. It made no difference now. She put her arms around T-Bone and cried into his fur. This was the kat she had fought alongside of, talked to, loved. He called her 'beautiful'. No one had ever said something like that to her before. She stayed there for what seemed like forever, but it must have only been a few minutes. She sat up beside him, her front covered in scarlet blood. She didn't care. With a blood-stained hand she stroked his cheek.

"I just want you to know, I love you." She whispered. She got up stifly, casting him a longing glance, then left to find Razor.

Razor paced to the end of the runway. Dark Kat was there, talking to his creeplings and several shadow-minions. Razor approached slowly, soundlessly. He lifted the missile launcher to his shoulder and lined up his sights with Dark Kat. Dark Kat turned and saw it, laughing.

"You've come back to fight me, have you? Well, the fate of your partner will be yours as well." He growled. Rage fired up in Razor. Dark Kat fired the gun he had concealed in his cloak. Razor dodged it, springing like a puma from the ground, claws unsheathed. He swung one blow after another at Dark Kat. Each blow met it's mark. Finally he slammed the massive Dark Kat to the ground with a solid kick. Dark Kat scrambled backwards as far as he could without plummeting over the edge of the runway.

"Wait!" He pleaded, "I can give you anything! Just ask it! I'll even hand over the Enforcer Headquarters in your name."

Feral, still tied and gagged a distance away, didn't seem to like that and did his best to show his opposal. Razor raised the missile launcher at Dark Kat. Dark Kat went ballistic.

"Hold your fire! What is it that you want?!" He exclaimed.

Razor narrowed his eyes, glaring through the sights of the missile launcher.

"I want my partner back, you lousy coward." He hissed. The missile fired, launching full on into Dark Kat. The evil Dark Kat was thrown off the edge of the runway, falling to his pavement-solid doom below. At the finish of thier master, the creeplings made a break for it. The shadow-minions put their hands in the air without further encouragement. 

Slash met the creeplings at the door. The creeplings halted, tried to run, and met their demise at the hands of Slash. Razor freed the Enforcers, allowing them to cage the shadow-minions behind bars and eredicate the remaining creeplings. Amid the enforcers rushing to and fro, Slash spotted Razor, standing at the end of the runway. She came alongside him.

"Aces, Razor," She told him, then added, "...T-Bone would've been proud of you."

Razor shook his head, "I can't go on without him." he muttered. A feminine hand clasped his shoulder. The scars on his shoulders were tender from the explosion several days ago, of which he'd been a fortunate survivor.

"He saved my life more than once..." He whispered. Slash nodded.

"Razor, he would want us to go on. He...said you were like a brother to him." Slash told him. "It's why we're here, -why we're swat kats. To protect the citizens of the city from evil like Dark Kat. To...lie down and give all up, would be bloody wrong."

Razor clenched his fists where they hung by his sides. He looked up at Slash, detirmination on his face.

"Then let's pick up where he left off."

**Well that's it. So, it had a happy reunion in it, but a character still died at the end. In the future I'll probably write more fanfics for this show, maybe the next one will be less...depressing. **

**Again, thanks for all of the encouragement, constructive feedback, and reveiws. I really appreciate it. **


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